Bacteria

We now live in tighter building envelopes in order to conserve energy and make our homes more energy efficient. The issues with this is that our indoor air quality is getting worse and this has a direct link to asthma sufferers. Pollen, dust mites, pet dander, mould, mildew – all of these at at ever increasing levels in our homes and all have a direct link to asthma attacks. Indoor air quality can be achieved by proactive measures and is something that we should all be looking at especially people who suffer from asthma and allergies.

An outbreak of legionnaires disease in a Spanish Hotel has killed three tourists and put 13 in hospital. The sad part to this story is that it was detected by Spanish Authorities a month earlier and no action was taken. Legionnaires disease is a form of lung infection that is caused by the legionella pneumophila bacterium. It breeds in warm, moist conditions and in most outbreaks the source of infection has been the cooling tower or the water of air-conditioning systems. Legionella bacteria can be found in a lot of Air Conditioning ducting and it is one reason to ensure duct work sanitisation.